Engineer questions traffic study findings

Joan Hellyer @BCCTintheknow

Wednesday

Feb 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMFeb 29, 2012 at 5:00 AM

Potential growth along the Lower Makefield and Newtown Township border should be included in a traffic study for a planned medical complex, an engineer testified before the township’s zoning hearing board Tuesday night.

But, he said, McMahon Transportation Engineers & Planners did not include all potential growth in its calculations for the medical facility that Aria Health wants to build on a part of Shady Brook Farm off the Newtown Bypass.

The property is at the corner of the bypass and Stony Hill Road and is less than a mile from the Interstate 95 interchange. It is at the end of the bypass, a major roadway where traffic from developments is funneled to, Wursta said.

“The burden is on the applicant to show their impact” on the heavily traveled area, he said.

The quasi-judicial panel of Lower Makefield residents is charged with hearing testimony relating to traffic issues for the planned project as part of a “remand” ordered in early 2011 by county Judge Theodore Fritsch Jr.

The judge directed the zoning board to consider the traffic volume and congestion issues before deciding whether Aria Health, formerly known as Frankford Hospital, should be granted an exception to build the 455,000-square-foot complex on the property.

The exception, originally granted by a divided zoning board in 2009, is needed because the property is zoned office-research.

Lower Makefield officials and the grassroots group Residents Against Frankford Relocation convinced Fritsch more investigation was needed before an exception could be granted.

During Tuesday night’s testimony, Aria attorney John VanLuvanee briefly cross-examined Wursta and offered his assessment of the engineer’s testimony for the township and RAFR.

“You heard no evidence from this witness about what impact a hospital would have (on the area),” VanLuvanee said.

The zoning board has generally reserved the third Tuesday of each month to consider testimony in the “remand,” however, not all the attorneys were available on Feb. 21, so this month’s hearing was moved to the fourth Tuesday in February.

The board promptly stopped testimony from Jeffrey A. L’Amoreaux, another traffic engineer at 10 p.m. Tuesday and adjourned until next month. The proceeding will resume at 7 p.m. on March 20, officials said.

Joan Hellyer: 215-949-4048;

email: jhellyer@phillyburbs.com;

Twitter: @BCCTintheknow

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